Liquid-pump arrangement



Feb. 4, 1930. G. A. KRA'MER 1,745,800.

LIQUID PUMP ARRANGEMENT Filed March 51, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I G. A.KRAMER Z Z w? 7 M r,

l illlflllllllllllI!!! I rill/Ill! vllIIIl/ll! I'll rIIIIIIA lflidaFiled March 31, 1926 LIQUID PUMP ARRANGEMENT VII/1 I III Feb. 4, 1930.

Feb. 4, 1930. a. A. KRAMER LIQUID PUMP ARRANGEMENT Filed March 31. 19263 Sheets-Sheet 3 '15 the apparatus be prevented as the air readilyPatented Feb. 4, 1930 UNITED". STATES PATENT oFFlca GUSTAV A. KRAMER,01' CONCORD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO SHELL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCESCO, CALHOBNIA, A. CORPO-RATION OI DELAWARE LIQUID-PUMP ARRANGEMENT Application filed March 81.,1926. Serial No. 98,708.

- My invention relates .to vacuum distillation of petroleum oil, andmore particularly to a novel liquid pump arrangement. I

-In the oil refining industry it is common practice to vapori'ze thehigher boiling point fractions from crude oil under a high vacuum sothat it will notbe necessary to heat the crude oil sufficiently to causean undesirable decompositiomor cracking of the molecules of the oil. Thevapors thus produced are subsequently condensed under a high vacuum. Itis very essential that the vacuum employed be very high, preferably atan absolute pressure of 25' millimeters of mercury or below.

It is also quite'essential that air leaks into combines with or oxidizesthe oil with a consequent production of deleterious oxidation products.It is a problem to maintain conditions ofhighevacuumand exclusion of airin stills, condensers, and associated apparatus employed for thispurpose.

- It is an object of my invention to provide a novel liquid pumparrangement which re-.

moves liquid from a system operated under a vacuum but will.absolutelynot leak air into the system.

In practice either reciprocating or rotary liquid pumps may be used. Allsuch liquid pumps require stufling boxes and, since it is very diflicultto maintain stuiling boxes gastight, there will at times be a leakageof. air into the" pump which reduces the 'vacuum It is-a-nother objectof this invention to provide a liquidpump arrangement having a liquidpump which is submerged in a liquid so that the pump is entirely sealedand can therefore not leak air into the system on which the arrangementis used, this liquid being of such a nature that a small leakage thereofintothe pump will not be objectionable.

It is a. further object of this invention to provide a liquid pumparrangement of the character mentioned 1n which said .li uid pumpdischarges the liquid it handles Into the body .of liquid in which it issubmerged,

so that said body of liquid will be of the same character asthe liquidbeing pumped.

-. It is a. stillfurther object of this invention to provide aliquid'pump arrangement having a special design of gear pump.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a liquid pumparrangement of the character specified which requires no stufling boxes.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be made'evidnthereinafter.

Referring to the three drawings in which I illustrate tion, I a

Fig. 1 is. a partiallysectioned view showing an application of myinvention.

Fig.2 is an enlarged sectional view taken through my invention and onthe line 2-2 of 'Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of myinvention taken as indicated by lines 33 ofFigs. 1 and 2.

prises a base 11 having a plate 12 to the lowerface of which a flange 13formed at the uppfir e end of'a tank 15 issecured by bolts 17.

tank 15 as shown in Fig.2 extends downward 'ly from the base 11, havinga cylindrical wall 19 and abumped bottom 20. An outlet 21 is connectedto a cylindrical wall 19 o tank-15 a considerable distance above thebotv 23 having a valve 24 tom 20, anda drain pi v is connected with theinterior of the tank 15 through the bumped bottom 20.' A oke 26 issupported in the tank 15 by thease 11.

This yoke 26 has an upper cylindrical flange- 27 which issecured againsta lower face of the plate 12 by means of a plurality of stud bolts 28.Extending. downward from the flange 27 is a cylindrical wall 290i theyolgp' 26, thiswall 29 being provided with openings 30. A gear pump 34is secured to the lower end a preferred form of my inven-- of the yoke26 near the bottom of the tank 15.

The gear pump 34 is provided with a housin 35 having an annular flange36 through whic screws 37 extending into a lower part of the yoke 26.Extending downward from an upper wall 39 of the housing 36 is a sidewall- 40 having a flange 41 formed at the lower end thereof, to which acover 42 of the gear pump 34 is secured by means of cap screws 43 whichextend through the cover 42 and into the flange 41 of the housing 35.The housing 35 of the gear pump 34 is provided with internal gearchambers 44 and 45 which have cylindrical faces 46. Placed in the gearchamber 45 is a drive gear 47 which is rigidly secured on a pump shaft48 by a key 49. The pump shaft 48 is journaled at its lower end in asocket'5O formed in the cover 42 and extends upward from the. pump 34through a bearing 52 formed in the upper wall 39 of the housing 35. Thepump shaft 48 is journaled concentric with the cylindrical face 46 ofthe chamber 45 and the drive gear 47 is of such a size that the outerfaces of the teeth thereof pass extremely close to the face 46 when thegear 47 is rotated. Placed in the chamber 44 is a driven gear 54 whichis carried by a shaft 55 supported at its lower end by a. socket 56formed in the cover 42 and at its upper end by a socket 57 formed in theupper wall 39 of the housing 35. The driven gear 54 is of such asize'that the outer faces of the teeth'thereof pass very close to thecylindrical face-46 ofv this chamber 44. As shown in Fig. 5 the teeth ofthe drive and dtiven gears 47 and 54 mesh at their adjacent sides.

An extension 58 is formed on one side of the housing 35, this extensionhaving an inlet passage 59 which is provided with a threaded andvertically disposed mouth 60, into which the lower end of an inlet pipeor conduit 61 is threaded. An exhaust passage 64 is formed in thehousing 35 directly opposite from the inlet passage 59, and has a mouth65 which opens directly into the tank 15.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 the upper end of the pump shaft 48 extendsinto a socket 68 formed in the lower end of a gear shaft 69. A key 70 isprovided at this point for drivably connecting the pump shaft 48 and thegear shaft 69 together. The gear shaft 69 extends upward through abearing 73 of the base 11.

. the bearing The'bearing 73 is made rigid by webs 74 and is preferablyprovided with a bearing'bush-- ing 75. A bevel gear 77 is secured to theupper end of the shaft 69 which projects through 73 by means of a key78. The bevel gear 7 is engaged and driven by a pinion gear 80 which issecured on a pinion shaft 81. The left end of the pinion shaft81 isjournaled in a pillow-block 82 secured to a shelf 83 of the base 11 bysuitable bolts 84. The

.right end of the pinion shaft 81 is extended into a connector 85 bymeans of which it is connected to a motor shaft 86 of a. motor 87.

As'shown in Figs. 2 anti 3 the motor 87 is sewhich is situated adjacentto the pump-34 and below the outlet pipe 21 of the tank 15. A valve stem96 extends from the throttle valve proper, upward through the plate 12of the base 11 and has an operating lever 97 secured to the upperextending end thereof. .The valve may thus be readily operated from theexterior of the tank 15.

The conduit 61, as shown in Fig. Land merely for the purpose ofillustration, is extended to a condenser 100 which is a part of a systemof apparatus which is adapted to be operated under a vacuum.Thiscondenser 100 has 'a'cylindrical shell 101 to the opposite ends ofwhich heads 102 are secured. Intermediate partitions or heads 104 aresecured inside the shell 101 in a manner to divide the shell into anupper chamber 105,'an inter-' mediate-cooling space 106 and a lowerchamher 107. Extending between the intermediate heads 104 and throughthe. cooling space 106'is a plurality of pipes 108, the passages ofwhich'pipes communiate with the upper andlower chambers 105 and 107. Acooling fluid is suppliedto and drawn from the cooling space 106 bymeans of pipes 109.

Vapor to be-condensed is supplied to the 1 upper chamber 105 by means ofa pipe 111 having a valve 112. The vapor passes downward through thepipes 108 and is condensed,

the condensates falling intothe lower chamher 107. The uncondensedvapors are drawn from the lower chamber 107 through a pipe 115 by meansof a vacuum pump 116 which places avacuum on the system. The condensatespass through the conduit 61, the throttle valve 95 having beenpreviously opened by an operation of the lever 97, and into the intakepassage 59 of the pump 34. The motor 87 at this time is in operation androtates the pinion shaft 81, which in turn rotates the bevel pinionwhich engages the bevel gear 77.

The'bevel gear turns the gear shaft 69 which drives the pump shaft 48.The drive gear 47 is rotated by the pumpshaft 48 and by reason of itsengagement with the driven gear 54 rotates the driven gear therewith.

The gears 47 and 54 rotate in directions in= dicated by arrows 120 ofFig. 5. The condensates are carried between the spaces in the teeth ofthese gears from the intake passage 59 and are delivered to the exhaustpassage 64. Since the teeth of the gears mesh at their adjacent sides noliquid can flow therebetween back into the intake passage 59. Theprinciple of operation of the gear pump 34 is iden- 'tical with that ofstandard forms of gear pumps. The liquid flows from the exhaust passage64 into the interior of th tank 15. This liquid fills the tank to alevel indicated 1o unnecessaryto provide 'stufiing boxes. Any

1,7u,eoo

at121 in Fig. 2, which level is determined .by the outlet 21. 1 From thedrawings it is obvious that the gear pum 34, which constitutes theliquid pump of t e invention, and the throttle valve 95 are entirelysubmerged in the body of liquid in the tank15. This liquid provides anabsolute seal for the difierent parts of the pump and for the throttlevalve so that it-is slight leakage in the pump is readily compensatedfor by the: operation of the gear pump and any slight leakage will notadmit air into the pump, but will admit liquid which is of the samecharacter as that liquid being pumped. By discharging the condensatesdi- 7 rectly into the tank. 15, the body of liquid in which the pump issubmerged is constantly changing and is always the same as the liquid 20being pumped. By such provision there will be no contamination of thesubmerging liquid such as would be the case if a separate sealingliquid,independent of the liquid being pumped, were provided.

The, essential feature of my invention is the provision of a liquid pumpwhich is submerged in a bodyof liquid so that the liquid pump' will besealed by his liquid and so that no air can enter the l'quid pump or thesystem on which the liqu d pump is used. The discharging of condensatesdirectly into the tank is also a featurejof my invention. A

ear pump of the character shown in the rawings readily lends itself tomy invention since it is simple in construction, continuous in operationand will require but little attention, and readily compensate for anyslight leakage of oil from the tank 15 into the pump 34 which mightoccur.

The vacuum pump 116 maintains a vacuum in the system and the liquid pumpassists in asmuch as it prevents a reverse flow through the pipe 61. Theliquid pump will remove only 1 iquid from the chamber 107, and when allthe liquid is drawn therefrom it merely functions to keep theair out.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a device of the character described:

. a tank; a pump supported within said tank; a drive means supportedabove said pump; connecting means drivably connecting said drive meanswith said pump, said connecting means egtending downward from said drivemeans to said pump; a conduit connecting to the inlet of said pump,"said'pump discharging into said tank; and an outletfor said tankarranged to maintain a body of liquid in said tank sufiicient to submerge said pump.

2. In a vacuum condensing apparatus the combination of: a container intowhich liquid is-delivered; means for maintaining a vacuum in saidcontainerabove said liquid; apipe so connected to .said container thatsaid liquid can be withdrawn therethrough;

' 5. In a device of I. a pump c into which said. pipe d:i5- charges;impe g means within said casing; and a tank surrounding said easing intowhich liquid from the interior of said casing is dis'harged,-said tankbeing so constructed that the liquid so discharged submerges allopenings in said casing.

- 3. In a' vacuum condensing apparatus, the combination of: a containerinto which liquid is delivered; means for maintainin a vacuum in saidcontainer above said liqui a pipe so connected to said containerthatsaid liquid can be withdrawn therethrough: a pump casing into whichsaid pipe dischar es; impelling means within said casing; an a tanksurrounding said casing into which the discharge from said pump isallowed to flow, said tank being so constructed that the liquid sodischarged submerges all openings'm said cas- 1n t. In a vacuumcondensing apparatus the combination of: a container into which liquidis delivered; means for maintaining a vacuum in said container abovesaid liquid; a pipe so connected to said container that said liquid canbe withdrawn therethrough; a pump castank being so constructed that theliquid. so

discharged provides a liquid seal for all openings in said casing.

'. means drivably connecting said .drive means with said pump; a conduitconnectin to the inlet of said pump said pump disc arging intosaid'tank; an means for maintaining a body of liquid in saidtank'suficient to submerge said pump.

7. In a device of the character described: a tank; a pump suspendedwithin said tank; a drive means supported upon said tank above saidpump; means drivably connecting said drive means with said pump; a fluidinlet through said tank to said pump; a conduit provided on said pumpconnectm with said fluid inlet; and an outlet for said tank arranged toconstantly maintain a body of liquid therein sufiicient to submerge saidpump. o

8. In combination with a vacuum 'condens ing apparatus having a liquiddelivery chamthe character described: I I a tank; a pump suspendedwithin said tank;

I her and a discharge pipe leading therefrom;

a pump housing; a tank in which said housing is suspended; impelling'means within said housing for discharging liquid from said chamber intosaid tank; and an outlet for said tank arranged to maintain a body ofliquid in said tank suflicient to entirely. submerge I said housing.

' sufiicient to entirely submerge said pump housing.

In testimony WhereoflI have hereunto set my hand at Martinez,California, this 20th day of March, 1926.

' GUSTAV A. KRAMER having

